PA school

[rose123]

Is finishing a PA program as opposed to obtaining a graduate degree a common route to strengthening your application to med school? Any help would be appreciated.

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[....]

no way

 

[deleted6669]

most med students could not get into a pa program because they lack the required clinical hours as an rn/emt-p/r.t. , etc.
pa programs want people who are already medical professionals.
it would be easier to get an mph(2 years) then get trained for instance as a paramedic( 1-2 years), work for 2 years to get the clinical hours, then apply to a pa program which would then take 2 years(total around 5-6 years).
by the way, many pa programs are now taught at the graduate level and the majority will be by 2008.

 

[rose123]

emedpa,

Is it difficult or uncommon for PAs to transition into a medical career as a physician?

 

[deleted6669]

difficult, no.
uncommon, yes.
most people who go to pa school have already worked in another medical field for a number of years so by the time they finish pa school there is a tendency to not want to go back for more schooling. for instance I have already attended 9 years of post high school education and if I end up going to medschool I will have spent at least 16 years in training(including a 3 year residency), so you can see why only 5% of pa's or so end up going on to medschool.